Black Women in Politics
‘Ain’t I A Woman’ March Highlights The Need For Black Women’s Voices Now
Organizers created the event to fill a void they felt was left by January’s Women’s March.
More than 1,500 people gathered on Saturday to participate in a black women’s rights march in Sacramento.
The march was organized by Black Women United, a non-profit organization “dedicated to the education, protection, and advancement of Black women.” BWU, founded in February, came up with the “Ain’t I A Woman” march as a way to include black women more in today’s women’s rights movement.
The event was intended to uplift and empower black women while highlighting the multitude of issues affecting them. Imani Mitchell, one of the organizers, told HuffPost that the overwhelming whiteness of the Women’s March in January left many black women feeling as though the event wasn’t for them.
“This event we had is kind of a response to the Women’s March back in January. More so, though, we just wanted to continue the conversation but with a focus on black women and black women’s issues,” Mitchell said. “I love being a black woman and I love black women and I felt that an event like this was needed and in many ways therapeutic for some black women when everyday it feels as though resisting is a struggle.”
The name of the march comes from Sojourner Truth’s famous 1851 “Ain’t I A Woman” speech, in which the activist stated that black women are erased from the conversation about women’s rights time and time again.
“I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?” Truth said.
Mitchell said Truth’s 1851 speech still resonates today.
“In many ways it’s unfortunate that it’s appropriate but it is appropriate,” Mitchell told…
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